From the Stacks: Jethro Tull – Clasping the Weathercock at Midnight

Jethro Tull remains one of my favorite bands from the ’70s prog era, Heavy Horses and Songs From the Wood in particular. Unfortunately, like a lot of rockers from the Pinto decade, Ian Anderson and company had a hard time transitioning into the post punk ’80s: 1980’s A and ’82’s The Broadsword and the Beast don’t exactly give Thick as a Brick a run for its money.

Live, though, the band remained a powerful presence, as this bootleg of a 1982 show in Hamburg attests. Sure, you can’t see Anderson standing on one foot while he rocks the flute, but you can hear him.

As you can see on the back cover, this CD is filled out with a few random tracks from other sources. Phil Collins drums on a couple of cuts, so that’s kind of a cool novelty.

This one will run you about 20 bucks, but if you’re a Tull fan it’s a must have for your stacks. Happy hunting.